National Basketball Association
Oklahoma City 123, Portland 114
When: 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Officials: #58 Josh Tiven, #71 Rodney Mott, #75 Ashley Moyer-Gleich
Attendance: 18203

Paul George scored 36 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 123-114 home win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.

Oklahoma City extended its winning streak to three games and snapped Portland's three-game winning streak.

Russell Westbrook had 29 points, including a pair of emphatic dunks in the final two minutes to put the exclamation point on the victory. Westbrook added 14 assists and 10 rebounds.

He sealed his NBA-best 14th triple-double of the season with a rebound shortly after George's steal started to make things feel comfortable for the Thunder.

The result not only put the Thunder ahead of the Blazers by a game in third place in the Western Conference, but it also gave Oklahoma City a 2-0 advantage in the season series between the teams with two games remaining.

The Thunder led virtually the entire way, with the Blazers leading for just 23 seconds -- all in the first half.

Even so, Oklahoma City couldn't put Portland away until the final minutes.

With just more than two minutes remaining, George stepped in front of Jusuf Nurkic's pass and took it the other way, using his body to protect his shooting arm from Nurkic at the basket as he finished the layup. The hoop put Oklahoma City on top 117-108.

The steal was the last of five for George. The Thunder tied a season high with 16 steals in the win.

Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 34 points while CJ McCollum added 31. Nurkic had 22 points and 15 rebounds.

McCollum dominated in the third quarter, making his first six shots, including four 3-pointers. He finished 7-for-9 from the floor in the period, scoring 21 points, and the Blazers trailed just 93-87 heading to the fourth.

Oklahoma City scored 28 points on the fast break while Portland managed just six.

The Thunder shot 50.6 percent from the floor and continued their recent improved 3-point shooting by going 11-for-23 from behind the arc.

Oklahoma City is shooting 41.8 percent from behind the 3-point line over its past seven games. Prior to that, the Thunder were shooting just 32.3 percent from 3-point range.

Portland made 45.3 percent of its field-goal attempts, including 10 of 36 (27.8 percent) from 3-point range.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Portland   Oklahoma City
Damian Lillard 34 Scoring Paul George 36
Damian Lillard 8 Assists Russell Westbrook 14
Jusuf Nurkic 15 Rebounds Russell Westbrook 10
Damian Lillard 8 Free Throws Made Paul George 13
Damian Lillard 5 Steals Paul George 5
Jusuf Nurkic 2 Blocks Jerami Grant 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Portland 114 45.3 10-36 18-22 21 52 3 7 20
Oklahoma City 123 50.6 11-23 26-33 26 37 4 16 11
Upcoming Games
  • Oklahoma City will play their next game at home against New Orleans. The Thunder have a W/L % of .655 after a win and .556 after a loss.
  • Portland will play their next game on the road against Phoenix. The Trail Blazers have a W/L % of .567 after a win and .632 after a loss.